ok now this may take a while lol got a bit of info i wanna put forward so that i can get the best responses from ppl.

ok so im a 21 year old male who is 6'2 and wights 115kg's

now what im after, is too loose my gut mainly, as well as work on tone as i already have fairly built arms, but my gut n a few stretch marks are giving me the shits n i really really want to loose them, i want to get my nice V back with some solid abs lol

ok so my diet is shit, my mate who is rather thin that i hang out with the most loves to eat out fast foods n usually i go along with him, although he's not completely to blame i admit i do eat fast food rather frequently, which i know i have to stop! i also drink alot of soft drink, whether its going for a cruise n getting maccas coke then having a smoke or with a fast food dinner having coke or pepsi etc.
thats another thing, i recently quit smoking, so my cardio is pretty crap after 5 years of smoking, only a few a day - so nothing like pack a day hard core kinda thing.
also my sleeping pattern is terrible, i usually goto bed approx 4 - 5am then sleep till mid day, but as im starting my new date entry job next week ill be working 8 - 5 weekdays.

so atm my diet is shit, n ive quit smoking, so over the past couple of days ive cut fast food out and soft drinks (been drinking 2L of water or more per day) so swapped coke with water! mmm that watery taste! :P

ok now ive read articles on HIIT but i think that might be a bit hectic as im trying to slowly work my way into training n im really unmotivated so i dont wanna kill myself then just be like omg fuck it i cbf

so what ive thought about was fix my diet as soon as possible, keep high water intake daily.

the gym - im stating to go again, but atm its purely cardio (too loose fat) so 30mins bike, 30mins tredmil, 10mins strider, 10mine if i can on the rowing machine, tried the stepper but got over it pretty quick :S
my bmi is approx 29.5

ok so what im after is some more info on other things i can do and change, what i should continue and what i should stop, how can i increase my motivation, any other tips or tricks anyone can give me or just general feedback.

Sounds like you're doing some homework.. Cutting the pop and upping the water is a great start! Congrats on downing the smoking that can zap you for sure. IMO Get your diet in order. Find a good calorie range for your self and check some of the stuff on the nutrition forum and find a good fat/carb/protein ratio for yourself. Let me get this right you're mainly wanting to loose fat??? If thats the case doing cardio is a must, and it looks like you have started. But if you really want to see a drop in the body fat get a good diet in order. A long term diet change will help you out more than anything.

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You come into the world weak, and you will leave the world weak. What you do in between is up to you!

You've got a good knowledge base. Knowing what's preventing or hindering you from getting your goals is the biggest step IMO. Dropping pop and fast food will definitely help melt off those pounds.

I'm not sure what HIIT your referring to, whether its Mentzer or Cardio....But as far as the cardio goes, I think you would be better of doing HIIT cardio (High Intensity Interval Training <click link> http://www.bodybuilding.net/fatloss-...view-2326.html) than doing upwards of an hour and a half of regular cardio. Plus the HIIT training will help get your lung power back since you quit smoking. HIIT seems like its gruelling when you read it, but if you pace yourself and build up to the really fast pace and strenuous effort over time, then its not bad at all. Baby steps now means big leaps in the long run

My advice for diet is to track what you would have eaten on a normal day, not what you eat now, but what you are used to eating. Write that down and go here http://fitday.com/ and see what your caloric intake was and the breakdown of the macros (fat, protein and carbs). Then do the same thing with your new diet and see how your macros and calories compare. Your diet and cardio will melt the fat, so your weight training isn't very critical at this stage IMHO.

Your best motivation will be the mirror and a camera. Take pictures now, and retake them (same pose or position, same background and everything) every 3-4 weeks and compare them. Pictures are by far the most effective way to examine your gains IMO. Pose or check yourself out in a mirror every 2 weeks or so. Nothing happens overnight, so it doesn't make sense to check your progress everyday or everynight. Looking at your progress in 'blocks' of time will really let you see the progress you've made and once you see yourself making progress....you will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from the gym

*I didn't include the scale in there or a tape measure because you said you didn't like the way you looked and wanted to get rid of your gut lol. So the scale means nothing, the only thing that matters is how you think you look, when you think you look good....mission accomplished

Last edited by Kane; 07-29-2007 at 12:02 PM..

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I apologize for this giant wall of text, and this probably doesn't count much towards 'general advice' since general is usually short and sweet... but if you choose to read all of this I hope it helps.

I don't know how long ago you started to eat healthier and hitting the cardio, but be careful. It sounds like you're treated your body to a lot of garbage over a lengthy period of time, so jumping into a sudden healthy diet and intense cardio regiment could cause some problems since you wouldn't be used to most of the changes. A couple years ago when I decided that I wanted to live past 40, I hit the gym, cut the bad foods and spent time walking/running (or tried to)/biking. I'll never forget the feeling of horrible nausea/headaches/fatigue from doing a moderate amount of work for the first week or two.

You mentioned that you dropped soda and fast food ~2 days ago. At this point your body would still be used to high sugar/fat/caloric intake and low nutritional content. Drinking 2L of water instead of Coke is a great start, but pace yourself on the exercise. From what you've described, you're looking for a 'quick fix' by leaping into over an hour of cardio for your first time back. You're not going to lose ~15-20 BF% in a couple weeks. It will take longer, depending on a majority of your diet/exercise and the rest being mental.

(Now, I'm probably no where near as experienced as most of the people on these boards, but I do have experience on weight loss.)

I'm 22, 6'2" and at my embarrassing peak I weighed 305 lbs at close to 32 BF%. 8 months later, I'm down to ~230 lbs at roughly 11-12 BF%. To achieve this I dedicated about 1.5-2 hours, 5-6 days a week weight training for the first portion and then walking on a treadmill for the rest of the time (3-3.5 speed, increaseing the incline). Since I was fairly lazy, I found that circuit training/super setting allowed me to maintain a 120-130 heart rate going into my 20-30 minutes of daily cardio.

Now, I mentioned a mental aspect. You have to realize that there is NO quick solution to weight loss. This will take time, depending on how much effort you put into it. Find some sort of motivational factor. It's crucial. Use it everytime you find yourself asking yourself why you're doing this, or when you think about skipping days/breaking your diet for whatever reason. Goals are also important, make reasonable short-term goals and work towards them and then progress to longer-term ones. It puts you in a better mindset when you feel good about accomplishing something you've worked towards. Don't get discouraged if you don't make your goals either. Try and find out what you could've done differently and adjust.

I've tried a lot of diets, including starving myself. You first need to find a diet that works for you. No ONE diet works for everyone, despite what the TV says. Start off with cutting down on portions and substituting in vegetables. Drink lots of water between meals. It will help to manage your cravings and it's great for you. Lastly, don't feel bad if/when you binge and indulge yourself every once and a while. It can help as a motivational tool depending on how you use it.

Exercise will ultimately be the best lifestyle change. You can only go so far with dieting. Commit yourself to the treadmill/bike and find something that passes the time.If you find yourself looking at the time every 30 seconds you're eventually going to try and convince yourself that you can sacrifice time and/or certain days to skipping cardio (This was the toughest part for me, but it sounds like you've got it handled). If you turn your experiences on the treadmill/bike into enjoyable ones, the easier this will ultimately be. If you find it fun, you can then move cardio to everyday life and not just 'gym time'. Finally, I'd recommend possibly getting into a routine of doing Squats, Dead lifts, Pull-ups (or assisted), Benching (go easy for the first bit if you're not used to this type of training). If you work on your larger muscle groups, the easier it will be to eventually lose weight because the more energy they will require. Especially since you're using most of those muscles when you're on the cardio machines. Not to mention those exercises will also bring your heart rate up and usually keep it up depending on how long you rest.

And finally, knowledge is power. Do your research. Read various websites on nutrition and exercise and use more than one website as your reference.